For those who have progressed far enough into the disease of addiction, it can be very dangerous to stop consuming drugs or alcohol abruptly. In fact, it can even be fatal. That’s why it’s critical to undergo detox in a medical setting. Traditionally, an inpatient setting has been required for patients to receive the medical care that they need while withdrawal symptoms are most severe.
Fortunately, this is no longer the case. Yes, stopping drugs and alcohol suddenly is a dangerous proposition for many people. But unlike in the past, you can now undergo the detoxification process safely in the outpatient setting as well. In this post, we’ll discuss five important benefits of outpatient detox.
The Top 5 Benefits of Outpatient Detox
Outpatient detox accomplishes the same goals of inpatient detox while allowing you to go home every night instead of sleeping in a hospital bed. Here are five more of the top benefits of outpatient detox:
- The safe elimination of drugs and alcohol from your body. This is the main purpose of any detoxification process, but an outpatient facility pursues it a bit differently. Instead of spending 24 hours a day in treatment, outpatient clients report to the facility for just a short period of time every day.
- Outpatient detox is significantly less expensive than an inpatient detox. This is mostly due to the decreased amount of time you spend in the facility.
- Higher levels of support from family and other loved ones. Nothing is more important to early recovery than the support of your spouse and other family members. Outpatient detox lets you start receiving this support immediately.
- Greater freedom and continued participation in the healthy parts of your daily routine. The world doesn’t stop moving just because you’re trying to get sober. Outpatient detox lets you continue to show up for life during early recovery.
- Outpatient detox facilitates a smoother transition back to the challenges of everyday life. True recovery doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Most people struggling with a substance use disorder have already started missing out on many important parts of their life. Outpatient detox lets you stop using safely and encourages you to face life’s challenges instead of avoiding them.
The Importance of Early Recovery
For many people, undergoing the difficulties of the detoxification process represents the beginning of a new and more rewarding life. It doesn’t matter how far your disease has progressed. Once you take the initial steps into recovery, everything that came before will start to seem like a necessary prologue to a richer experience of yourself and the world in general.
Unfortunately, this new life doesn’t create itself. While it’s imperative that you receive help along the way, the onus is on you to take constructive action. You’ve just read about some of the chief benefits of outpatient detox, but it’s important to keep in mind that it’s just a single stage in a lifelong process of recovery and healing. The early period of recovery sets the tone for all that comes after. You owe it to yourself to let it unfold in the most positive way possible.